Objects in motion remain in the lead.

We're guessing you're probably aware of Newton's First Law from your high school physics class, but we'll reiterate this baseline of classical mechanics, just to make our point. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless acted on by an outside force. In the realm of cross-country racing, these outside forces could be any number of variables, from rugged stretches of rocks and roots threatening to slow you down to a particularly steep climb that's standing between you and the podium. Efficiently taming these speed-sapping forces that would love nothing more than to drop you to the end of the pack, the Santa Cruz Blur Carbon XE Complete Mountain Bike carries its momentum and climbs with uncanny ease, yet it offers enough confidence and composure to clean technical course sections that would otherwise have you dismounting in shame.

Santa Cruz may have taken a bit of a divergence from the XC scene in the past few years, with the Tallboy being the closest thing to a cross-country offering in recent time, and geometry stretching to slacker angles year over year, so we're more than excited to not only see the Blur rejoin the lineup, but with geometry that takes a U-turn from the trends, and reverts to true race-ready steep angles. Even steeper than the previous generation, the new Blur features a 69-degree head tube angle, and 74-degree seat tube, perching you on top and in control of your steed for nimble handling and maximum pedaling efficiency while you barrel through miles of singletrack.

The wheelbase is stretched over an inch, giving the bike more confidence through rough terrain, enabling you to pick the gnarlier line, shaving seconds off of your time as you push towards the podium. The rear end is updated with Boost spacing, stretching things out and stiffening things up, and while we usually see Boost pairing with tucked-in wheels and extra-stubby chainstays, the chainstays on the Blur move out just under a quarter of an inch to 17 inches, so you can still comfortably get behind the saddle when you need to, without feeling like you're going to go over backwards.

This particular Blur is built using Santa Cruz's Carbon C construction, which provides all the benefits in lateral stiffness and unbelievable strength of its top-flight Carbon CC sibling, but with a slight weight penalty. We don't have specifics on the weight gain for this particular frame (we'll have to wait until Santa Cruz publishes their figures), but a typical Santa Cruz Carbon C weighs approximately eight to nine ounces heavier than its Carbon CC counterparts. The upside to the Carbon C construction is you save a good chunk of cash, which is always nice when you're a self-sponsored racer that's footing the bills for your own builds and racing fees. However, the bike is still incredibly lightweight in the arena of 24 pounds for this particular Carbon XE build, meaning it's no slouch when it comes time to don a race plate and toe the starting line.